People being treated at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center are the latest UC Davis Health patients to benefit from urgent care delivered to their home. The new program that started in August allows cancer patients access to urgent medical care from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., 365 days per year. The patients are seen for conditions such as nausea, vomiting, fever, wound checks, and pain.
UC Davis Health partnered with DispatchHealth, the nation’s first comprehensive in-home medical care provider, to roll out the new program. A vehicle displaying the logos of both organizations, and equipped with a mobile lab for blood tests, visits residences by appointment.
UC Davis Health first aligned with DispatchHealth in the summer of 2023 to start an urgent care at home program for UC Davis Health primary care patients. That service is designed to improve access to care, deliver a better patient experience, curtail unnecessary emergency department visits, and reduce hospital readmissions.
“We are pleased to offer this human-centered care to our patients undergoing treatments for cancer,” said David Tom Cooke, physician-in-chief of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We are essentially going back to the future by providing house calls to our patients, making it less stressful, more convenient, and faster to get relief from their symptoms.”
Cooke added that the service is leveraging the latest technology to ensure patients are getting the best possible outcome and avoiding visits to the emergency department.
DispatchHealth has assigned two vehicles to respond to calls within a 25-mile radius of UC Davis Medical Center. A traveling nurse practitioner or physician assistant, as well as a trained medical technician, administer care. A board-certified emergency department physician is available virtually by the on-site care team at the patient’s home.
“The Urgent Medical Care At-Home program is designed to be a pillar of support for patients during their times of sickness and vulnerability,” said Vimal Mishra, the head of digital care at UC Davis Health. “This innovative initiative brings compassionate care directly to patients’ homes, sparing them from lengthy emergency room waits. It is a testament to the collaborative efforts between our innovation technology, ambulatory operations, and care delivery teams.”
UC Davis Health patients can request access to the new at-home urgent care by contacting their oncologist, primary care provider, advice nurse, or UC Davis Telehealth Express Care.
